CIC 2050 Group held two successful Speed Mentoring Events

The Construction Industry Council 2050 Group held two successful Speed Mentoring events on the evening of Thursday 6 November, hosted by Gardiner & Theobald in Central London and by the CIC Yorkshire & Humber Committee at the Leeds Club, in Leeds, respectively.

London mentors included Elaine Lewis, Managing Director - Cadventure; David Miller, Director & Principal Architect – David Miller Architects; Graham Stallwood, Head of Development Management - The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Greg Craig, MD Infrastructure Services – Skanska; Holly Porter, Founding Director – Surface to Air Architects; Jason J Speechly-Dick, Director of Architecture – Atkins; John Eynon, Director - Open Water Consulting; Mary-Rose Griffiths, Partner – G&T; Michael Wadood, Director – MLM Building Control; Richard Saxon CBE; Sarah Fray, Director – IStructE; Sue Illman, Managing Director – Illman Young Landscape Design Limited; Terry Stocks, Director of Estates - Dept of Justice/BIM task Group; Tristan McDonnell, Associate Director – ARUP; Danna Walker, Project Manager – CIC; Trudi Elliott, Chief Executive – RTPI; Karen Prosser, Partner – EC Harris.

Leeds mentors included Andrew Link, Chief Operating Officer – CIC; Colin Harrop, Director – Jones Lang LaSalle; David Warburton, Guildhall complex Project Manager - City of York Council; Jillian Hardie, Electrical Associate – ARUP; Nigel Ingram, Founder And Director – Aurora Estates; Peter Crosland, Civil Engineering Manager – CECA; Richard Wilks, President – APS; Tom Oulton, BIM Manager – East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Once again reactions from both mentors and mentees were extremely positive:

‘It was really beneficial; it has helped me to get some insights and advice from people who are much more experienced than me. I’d definitely do it again – even with the same people!’

‘Fantastic! I really enjoyed it and it was a good opportunity to meet some people that I’ve admired for some time. I definitely wouldn’t have been as frank with work colleagues or peers. It was great to talk about key areas of interest and things that are important to me and my career at the moment, and how it might develop in the future, and what to keep an eye on.’

'It was really useful. My four mentors asked me direct questions, anticipating straight answers back, and clarity, which from a personal point of view I’ve always shied away from. It’s been really useful in helping me to focus in on what I want to do, what I’m good at, and finding a way to articulate that in a way that people understand.'

‘As an academic I’m normally on the other side of the table but it’s been fascinating to meet people at the top of their career and get some insights from them.’

‘It’s just as useful to mentor people as being mentored. You meet just as many interesting people; people you’d never meet in your normal day job, and talk about things you’d never otherwise talk about. It gives you a completely different insight into people’s jobs; jobs that you don’t do yourself but are in related professions and it’s great just to find out what they’re going through even though it’s completely different to you.’

‘It exceeded my expectations; it was great to have a wild card; someone I might not have otherwise met and spoken to; it was nice to hear about different career paths and what I should focus on. They were all so enthusiastic and they really cared! It was great to have someone who really cared about your progression and really wanted to help you and help others.’

Louise Clarke, Chair of the CIC2050 Group closed the London event asking mentors and mentees to go back to their workplaces and organise their own speed mentoring events, so that the benefits of intergenerational knowledge transfer snowball and spread throughout the industry.

The CIC North-East Committee will be holding a speed mentoring event on 27 November from 5.30-8.00pm hosted by Arup at its offices in Newcastle upon Tyne. To register your interest in being a mentee please contact Leanne McAngus on 0191 3740233 or leanne@cene.org.uk